Transition Cambridge Bulletin - Seedy Sunday coming soon!

Hi Everyone,

Happy New Year! We have a good sprinkling of events and films in the next fortnight, on tried and tested Transition themes. This week's Cafe night  promises to be full of useful tips to trim your energy bills, and be sure to put Seedy Sunday in your diary for  free and heritage seeds, a film, and talks plus gardening inspiration and seed saving know-how.

CONTENTS

Transition News and Events

  • Wednesday 09 January: Energy Group Meeting
  • Thursday 10 January: Cafe night - How to Save Energy at Home
  • Tuesday 15 January: Food group meeting + Cambake meeting
  • Thursday 17 January: Book now for Transition Carbon Conversations in January!
  • Sunday 20 January: Seedy Sunday including the folllowing events:
  • Seeds of Freedom - Film and discussion
  • Talk - The rise of F1 seeds: implications for growers and seedsavers
  • Talk - Introducing GrowZones and the Permaculture approach in your garden
  • Events for your calendar

Community News

  • Organic grazing land available - West of Cambridge
  • Seedy Sunday - Helpers needed!

Other News and Events

  • Monday 07 January: Grow Your Own Year Round Workshop
  • Saturday 12 January: Open Saturday
  • Saturday 12 January: Family lantern making workshop for Wassail
  • Saturday 12 January: Family Lantern Making Workshop in preparation for Wassail
  • See lantern making workshop 12/1/2012: Wassil 2013
  • Monday 14 January: New Sustainable Eating Course (January 2013)
  • Wednesday 16 January: Vegetarian Cooking Workshop: Veggie Burger Delight
  • Thursday 17 January: Thermal Image Training
  • CCAFS Website on Climate Change and Food Security
  • Events for your calendar

Transition News and Events

Wednesday 09 January: Energy Group Meeting

20:00-21:30, Judith's house

For the first meeting of the year we will be finalising plans for the Wood Stoves forum and discussing other projects for the year.  Contact Nicola for details of venue.

Thursday 10 January: Cafe night - How to Save Energy at Home

19:30, CB1 Cafe on Mill Road

There are many ways you can reduce your energy use at home without spending a penny - just by the things you do. From closing curtains at night or turning the heating off half an hour before you go to bed, to not overfilling the kettle, turning off the TV when no-one is watching it ... This workshop is about what we can do, why we don't always do it and what we can do to make it easier. Nicola Terry gave this workshop first at Warm Homes in Trumpington and got good reviews. It will be even better this time.

Tuesday 15 January: Food group meeting + Cambake meeting

18:30, Emperor Pub (upstairs room), Hills Road

6.30-8.00 Food Group meeting - all welcome - come along to find out about the food group's activities and to get involved! From 8.00 - Cambake meeting - all welcome - come along to find out more about Cambridge's community bakery and how to get involved.

Thursday 17 January: Book now for Transition Carbon Conversations in January!

19:30-21:30, Hills Road near rail station

Bev and Liz are again offering a Carbon Conversations group specially for Transition, on Thursdays starting January 17th. The six 2-hour sessions are fortnightly and cover carbon reduction in the areas of home energy, travel, food, general consumption and waste. "The best educational experience I have ever had!" (Jade) This is a great opportunity to learn about reducing your personal carbon footprint in a small group of like-minded - we won't be running another Transition group for another year, so sign up now! Organised by Cambridge Carbon Footprint. Email  CCF to find out more or to book. More details here.

Seedy Sunday  20th January:

13:30-16:00, Trumpington Village Hall, Trumpington, CB2 9HZ

 Come along to Seedy Sunday and swap or collect some new veg and flower seeds for the coming season. You can donate your own saved  or surplus packets of bought seed if you have any, but there's usually plenty of seeds for everyone. You can also buy heritage seed varieties or make donation to Heritage Seed Library for seeds they promote.  This popular annual event has something for eveyone; as well as talks and a film (see below),  CamBake will be offering some of their delicious seed-inspired breads,   children can sow their own  egg box seed garden, and there will be refreshments provided by Trumpington WI.

Price: £1.50  (children free). Organised in conjunction with Trumpington Allotment Society. More details here.

Seedy Sunday 20 January: Seeds of Freedom - Film and discussion

13:35-14:10, Trumpington Village Hall, High Street, Trumpington, Cambridge, Cambs CB2 9HZ

Seeds of Freedom is a moving film highlighting why we need to save our own seed. It covers the story of seed - from its roots at the heart of traditional diversity-rich farming systems around the world, to the ways that seeds are being turned into a commodity and used to monopolise the global food system. Maximum 30 places, so please arrive a little early to secure your space.  We will allow entry to Seedy Sunday at 1.20pm for the film. Price: included in the Seedy Sunday entry fee -  £1.50  More details here.

Seedy Sunday 20 January: Talk - The rise of F1 Hybrid seeds: implications for growers and seedsavers

14:20-15:10, At Trumpington Village Hall, High Street, Trumpington, Cambridge, Cambs CB2 9HZ

We are pleased to have Valerie Muir of Valerie’s Veggies and Plants as our main speaker. Valerie  is a retired  life long grower and medical pathologist who has been running a small market garden near Bishops Stortford for 16 years becoming fully Soil Association certified organic 7 years ago. She grows veg, fruit, nuts, herbs and garden plants,  teaches organic gardening and loves growing plants from seed.

30 places only please sign up on arrival at Seedy Sunday which starts at 1.30pm More details here.

Seedy Sunday 20 January: Talk - Introducing GrowZones and the Permaculture approach in your garden

15:15-16:05, At Trumpington Village Hall, High Street, Trumpington, Cambridge, Cambs CB2 9HZ

Pippa Vine from Transition Cambridge will talk about how her garden has developed since she participated in Growzones in 2010, when a small group of people came to help her make raised beds one afternoon.  She folllowed Permaculture design principles in her small garden which has helped to increase her veg and fruit production and improve biodiversity. There are only 30 places so come and sign up for a  place during the afternoon at Seedy Sunday. More details here.

Events for your calendar

Community News

Organic grazing land available - West of Cambridge

Approximately 2 to 3 acres of organic grazing land available 7 miles west of Cambridge. This is river meadow next to Bourn Brook and is suitable for summer grazing of livestock (but not pigs). Mains water on site, but not to meadow. The land is registered with the Soil Association so any stock would need to be organic and kept to SA standards. contact to find out more.

Seedy Sunday - can you help?

Can you help with Seedy Sunday? Ceri and Dave are looking for some help organising Seedy Sunday, including in advance help: placing event details on webpage listings, help with making up seed packets, and then on the day help: set up crew 12.30 - 1.30pm, taking entrance money on the door, packing up crew 4.30-5.30pm and someone with tech know-how who can assist with setting up projectors, computers, sound systems etc. Please get in touch with Ceri and Dave if you could help with any of these things. Thanks! Pictures of last year. We couldn't run this popular event without help from volunteers, both on the day and beforehand with admin and publicity. If you can help with any of these tasks please contact Ceri and Dave

Other News and Events

Monday 07 January: 'Grow Your Own - Year Round' Workshop

19:30-21:30, Friends Meeting House

Whether you’re new to growing your own food, or a seasoned experimenter, this workshop hosted by Cambridge Carbon Footprint and led by expert grower Keith Jordan is essential if you want to eat your own produce all year round. “Grow Your Own Year Round” will help you plan your garden and planting schedule so that you always have something from the garden to eat, no matter the season. Space will be limited so please book ahead by email or by calling us at 01223 301842. All materials will be provided. More details here.

Saturday 12 January: Open Saturday

10:00-16:00, Cambridge Wood Works

Every second Saturday of the month the Cambridge Wood Works Wood Store at Penn Farm is open for those who can't get to us during our weekday opening hours (Tues - Fri 10am - 4pm). Over the holidays you might have started thinking about projects for the home and garden where our good stocks of affordable reclaimed timber would be an ideal choice. Or maybe you have a wood stove / open fire and might be in need of some fuel, like our Cambridge Hotlogs? Whatever the reason, if you're interested in using reclaimed wood, your welcome at Cambridge Wood Works! More details here.

Saturday 12 January: Two Family lantern making workshops for Wassail

11:00-13:00hrs  and 14:00-16:00hrs, Trumpington Village Hall, High Street, Trumpington, Cambridge, Cambs, CB2 9HZ

We will be making magical lanterns out of tissue paper and Willow ready for you to participate in the procession to the Trumpington Community Orchard Wassail the following day. There will be two workshops running from 11– 1pm or 2 – 4pm £2 per lantern.   All welcome.   For more details please look at our website.

Sunday 13 January: Wassail 2013 - See lantern making workshop - above *

15:30, Trumpington Community Orchard Project

Come celebrate the apple trees with Trumpington Community Orchard Project Lantern procession to the orchard and traditional Wassail ceremony with music and singing 3:30pm. Bring a light, wrap up warm. For how to get there look at our website.

Monday 14 January: New Sustainable Eating Course (January 2013)

19:30-21:00,

A new five-week course packed with ideas about eating more sustainably starts in January. "Sustainable Eating: how to eat great food that won't cost the earth" takes a lively, participative approach to the topic, with food to try! Starts 14 January for five evenings, 7.30-9pm, at Sawston Village College. Cost: £35, concs available. The course tutor is Sally Fenn, nutrition therapist, food writer and amateur veg grower. To book, ring 01223 712424, or to find out more, email Sally Fenn.

Wednesday 16 January: Vegetarian Cooking Workshop: Veggie Burger Delight

18:30-20:30, Cambridge Carbon Footprint, Future Business (Cambridge City FC), Milton Rd, Cambridge. CB4 1UY

Learn how to make a variety of your own veggie burgers, such as black bean or falafel burgers with this hands-on workshop in January. Hosted by two vegetarian and vegan cooking experts, you’ll come away from the class with great new skills and recipes, especially if you’re new to vegetarian cooking. Materials will be provided, and the workshops will take place at Cambridge Carbon Footprint's office off Milton Road. Donations are greatly appreciated to help cover costs (suggested £3-5/person). This will be the first in an ongoing series of low-carbon cooking workshops. This workshop has 10 places available so please email us or call 01223 301842 to book. Please let us know in advance if you have any particular allergies or food intolerance.

Thursday 17 January: Thermal Image Training

19:30-21:30, Cambridge Carbon Footprint, Future Business (Cambridge City FC), Milton Rd, Cambridge. CB4 1UY

Concerned about high energy bills and heat loss in your home? Join Cambridge Carbon Footprint for a free training session to learn how to use our thermal imaging camera. Participants will learn how to use the camera and more importantly, how to interpret the results! Once trained you’ll be able to borrow the camera to survey your own home (and those of others) so you can identify the best ways to improve insulation and airtightness. Better for the environment, and better for energy bills! Thermal imaging is only available while the weather is chilly, so don’t delay! To book your place email CCF or phone 01223 301842.

CCAFS Website on Climate Change and Food Security

A new website called “Big Facts”, that presents a set of robust facts and figures on climate change, agriculture and food security has been launched by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS).  Data and graphics presented on the website range from topics such as undernourishment and population to fisheries and forestry. Their website is intended as a source for fact-checking and offers scientifically reliable facts and figures from related reports, advocacy materials, and other sources. Each page includes downloadable infographics that are sharable on a blog, as well as links to Twitter and Facebook.

Events for your calendar

well, there's a busy and informative start to 2013!  Stay warm until next week,

Jacky Sutton-Adam

Our Mission

Transition Cambridge aims to help Cambridge make the transition to ways of life that are more resilient in the face of rising energy prices and a changing climate.

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